‘SUPERMARKET SWEETS AREN’T THE PROBLEM!’

As the government bans junk food from checkouts, Dr Christian suggests far more useful ways to help families get healthier

Removing sweets from checkouts is a drop in the ocean, because sweets are everywhere, from newsagents, to clothes shops, to DIY stores. You go in for a newspaper and you’re encouraged to buy a slab of chocolate – it’s endless.

PLAN TREATS

Decide how many treats your kids can have each week, and when they’ve had them, they can’t ask for more. Make it a rule like any other: bedtime is 8pm, and you can have three chocolate bars a week. It’s too easy to keep saying yes, otherwise. Also, explain why. Rather than using scare tactics, if your child likes watching football, explain their favourite player eats healthily. Make it inspiring, not scary.

REBRAND FRUIT

If you really don’t want kids to eat rubbish, don’t buy it. If it’s not in the cupboard, they can’t cry until you hand it over. We call sweets “treats”, so they’re tempting, but children genuinely like fruit – because it’s sweet. Let’s start calling fruit a treat, and buying the cheap “wonky” versions of berries and things, so they can have that instead. Primary schools are going to bring in the “active mile” initiative, where kids spend 15 minutes running or walking around school grounds daily. That often rubs off at home, too, as kids nag their parents about why they’re not doing it – which is great. Encouraging children to be active for half an hour a day at home, too, would be even better, whether that’s playing frisbee, cycling, bouncing on the trampoline or having a family kickabout.

DITCH CANDY IN CLASS

Another problem facing parents is the fact it’s become the norm for kids to hand out sweets to the whole class every birthday, which means your child is potentially having 25 bags of sweets per school year. Ask the school to swap that “treat” for another, like being allowed to pick the game the class plays at break time.

Finally, the government wants all restaurant menus to list calories. Lots of reports have said it “only” reduces what people eat by 12 per cent – but eating 12 per cent less every day for a year would make a huge difference. It also lets people make informed choices.

Removing Mars Bars from checkouts isn’t enough – we need to do more at home, too. If you don’t want your kids eating junk, lead by example. I’m not saying they can’t have a piece of cake or a biscuit – that’s fine. But let’s get the balance right.